The prospect of a 19th Eredivisie title for Atiba Hutchinson (above) and PSV Eindhoven are fading into the distance.
The latest setback came in a battle at the top on Sunday as PSV took on league leaders Ajax. PSV twice trailed by a goal but Ajax managed to pull out a 3-2 win and moved six points clear of PSV, who also fell to third place after a hard-charging Vitesse Arnhem moved into second place with their draw at Roda JC.
In England, Simeon Jackson has become more and more marginalized with Norwich City, but he did manage to get a few minutes’ action on Saturday as Norwich lost a lead late to lose 3-1 to Arsenal. Jackson came on in the 90th minute and Norwich are in 14th place in the Premier League.
In the Championship, defender David Edgar also saw some rare action for Burnley as he came on in the 74th minute on Saturday in his club's 1-0 loss to Blackpool. Burnley are in 14th place.
In Germany, FC Augsburg, with Marcel de Jong, are tantalizingly close to getting clear of all worries of relegation as they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 on Sunday. De Jong came on in the 87th minute as Augsburg remain in a relegation playoff position in 16th but are three points back of Fortuna Dusseldorf and safety.
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If Augsburg are forced into a playoff, it’s possible they could come up against Kevin McKenna and FC Köln. Köln moved back into a tie for third place in the 2.Bundesliga — which is the playoff spot — after they beat Aalen 1-0 on Sunday. The win combined with Kaiserslautern’s tie means both teams have 49 points.
The promotion push for Rob Friend and 1860 Munich took a hit after they lost 3-1 to St. Pauli. Friend’s third goal of the season was the lone goal for 1860, who are in sixth place.
Down at the bottom of the 2.Bundesliga, Julian de Guzman and Jahn Regensburg picked up a point with a scoreless draw to Paderborn but are still in last and a long way from safety.
In Norway, goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld made his first start of the season for Vålerenga as they lost 3-0 to Strømgodset. Vålerenga have a win and three losses in four games of the budding 2013 season.
Tosaint Ricketts also made his first start of the season for Sadnes Ulf as they picked up their first win of the campaign. Ricketts lasted 56 minutes in Sadnes’ 1-0 win over Tromsø.
In Turkey, goalkeeper Milan Borjan was in goal for Sivasspor in their 1-1 draw with Gençlerbirligi. They have an all-important Turkish Cup semifinal on Wednesday against Trabzonspor.
It’s thanks to a red card to the everyday starting goalkeeper that allowed Haidar Al-Shaibani to get a rare start for Nîmes in France’s Ligue 2. Al-Shaibani made some fine saves but couldn’t stop them all as Nîmes tied Dijon 1-1 and sit in sixth place.
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In Cyprus, Mike Klukowski and APOEL are still looking to get on track in the league's championship round as they’ve gone two games without a win in the four-team competition. Klukowski played the full 90 minutes on Saturday as APOEL played Anothorsis to a scoreless draw, which put them five points back of top spot.
At the other end, Issey Nakajima-Farran and Alki gave their quest to avoid relegation a boost as they beat Olimpiakos 1-0 on Sunday. Nakajima-Farran played 74 minutes as Alki lead the four-team relegation round.
In Portugal’s Liga de Honra, the promotion push for Pedro Pacheco and Santa Clara may be over after they lost to Arouca 2-0 on Saturday. They’re nine points back of the promotion spots in seventh place.
Two games into the new Swedish Superettan season, Nik Ledgerwood and Hammarby are still looking for their first win. Ledgerwood played the full 90 minutes on Sunday as Hammarby got their second tie in two games to start the season as they drew Varnamo 1-1.
In Uruguay, Lucas Cavallini and Juventud de las Piedras lost their fifth game in their first eight to start the Clausura season as they lost 2-0 to Racing. Cavallini came on in the 66th minute.
